MORRIS TOWNSHIP — Deputy Mayor Bruce Sisler might have been abrasive and even foul-mouthed in his late-night, confrontational call to a resident Aug. 3, but the Morris Township Board of Ethics isn't going to take any action against him — at least for now.

Nor will it decide if Sisler had a conflict of interest that should have kept him from participating in the township committee's vote to change the zoning at Honeywell's corporate campus, allowing it to add hundreds of townhomes and expanded lab facilities to its corporate campus.

They and several others living near the corporate campus have said they're worried about traffic, environmental impacts and other quality-of-life issues. They accuse the township committee of fast-tracking the process, putting corporate interests ahead of the neighbors'.

"Mr. Burke has filed a complaint seeking the relief he wants, and whatever it is, I don't think it belongs in the ethics committee," ethics board member John Carlin, who investigated Burke's complaint, said.

In the recorded portion of the call, Sisler confronts Goldberg about his motives in opposing Honeywell's expansion, and occasionally curses.

"I
just want to know, what's
your gameplan, pal?" Sisler says at the beginning of the recorded
portion of the call. "I just want to know, what's your game? What (do)
you want?"

At another point, Sisler
asks if Goldberg watches his own tapes of township committee meetings,
and, "Do you look at this and go, 'Am I being a jackass, or
am I being thoughtful, or am I being critical, or am I being
thoughtful?' Do you
look at that?"

And at
another, they debate whether Goldberg should have sent the township committee messages alleging Sisler had a conflict of interest in the Honeywell matter — as Sisler is chief of
staff to Assemblyman Anthony Bucco, who has backed legislation once
celebrated as an incentive for Honeywell to stay in New Jersey.

Ethics board member Patrick B. Minter — who investigated a complaint about the call submitted by Goldberg and his wife, Debi — said the couple alleged the call had been "belligerent, mean-spirited, hostile and bully-like in nature." The call, Lee Goldberg also alleges, intimidated him and kept him from taking part in certain hearings about Honeywell, tainting the process.

Lee Goldberg has acknowledged sending an email to Sisler and other officials about an hour earlier.

"I don't suggest it excuses what's alleged to be the tone of those phone calls" but it shows Sisler knew Lee Goldberg was awake late in the evening, Minter said.

Lee Goldberg also alleges in his ethics complaint Sisler inappropriately leaked to media that the resident flagged the conflict concern — a matter that was discussed in closed, executive-session township council meetings.

But Minter noted the complaints before the ethics board are similar, if not identical, to those in the Superior Court challenge — and said having the ethics board take them on could be problematic. He said the court and ethics board could reach contradictory conclusions, or the decision of one could influence the other, muddying the waters.

So on his recommendation, the ethics board dismissed the Goldbergs' complaint without prejudice — meaning it made no judgment, and could revisit the issue another time.

Resident Mary Gorse, in the audience for the hearing — the board's first, other than a reorganization meeting, in its 20-year existence — said she hoped the ethics board could at least make some sort of a statement that the call was inappropriate. Gorse said she often kept odd hours while dealing with her mother's Alzheimer's disease, and sometimes sent emails late at night, but would never expect an unsolicited call after midnight.

"To have someone call me up at midnight and start yelling at me for my opinion, I would not appreciate that at all," Gorse said.

Sisler's vote on Honeywell

Burke's complaint took aim at an issue also key to the lawsuit — the allegation that Sisler's employment, under an assemblyman who has gone on record as being in favor of keeping Honeywell in Morris Township, could divide his loyalties.

Burke and Lee Goldberg have maintained that while Sisler had a conflict, fellow Committeeman Jeff Grayzel — the only committee member to vote against the Honeywell expansion — didn't. Grayzel recused himself because his wife has a pension with Honeywell and a 401K that includes Honeywell stock. Sisler recused himself as well.

But both committeemen were instructed by the remaining members of the township committee — under the direction of Township Attorney John Mills — to put their conflicts aside, and take part in the Honeywell vote anyway. The rezoning required at least 4 votes because nearby residents successfully petitioned to require a supermajority approval; with Grayzel and Sisler out of the process, only three committeemen remained.

The attorney cited the so-called doctrine of necessity as a justification for bringing Grayzel and Sisler back into the fold. Burke asked the ethics board, in his complaint, to rule the doctrine didn't apply.

Under his reasoning, if Grayzel's vote counted but Sisler's didn't, the Honeywell expansion would have failed in a 3-1 vote — falling short of the required supermajority. The doctrine of necessity would have been a non-issue with Grayzel participating.

But Carlin, the ethics board member who investigated Burke's complaint, said there's no reason to believe Sisler did anything wrong in taking part in the Honeywell vote — he didn't take part in the decision to be brought back into the process.

The ethics board could only offer an opinion on a legal issue — like that of the doctrine of necessity — if asked to by a township employee or official, he said. Even so, it would only be advisory — the ethics board can't tell the township committee what to do.

So the ethics board has no jurisdiction over the issues in Burke's complaint, Carlin said.

"Otherwise it would create an almost chaotic situation, having the ethics committee visit whether legislation by the township committee is improper," he said.First issue in 20 years

The ethics board has only convened once before, earlier this year, to organize itself. It took months to hold a hearing after Burke and the Goldbergs submitted their complaints, though some of that time was spent by members investigating the issues.

"If the ethical board hadn't taken over four months to respond, we wouldn't be in litigation," Debi Goldberg said after the committee decided not to take up the complaints, in part because similar matters are now before the Superior Court.

The board is chaired by former Morris County Prosecutor Peter Manahan, who has officially been named as a member of the board since it was created by ordinance two decades ago.

Manahan recused himself from participation in any decisions about the Burke and Goldberg complaints, as Burke complained Manahan's own ownership of Honeywell stock could taint proceedings. Manahan said he didn't see how, as he didn't think the ethics board could directly benefit or hurt Honeywell, but "I'm sensitive to the perception that the Goldbergs and Mr. Burke may have."

After the session Wednesday night, Sisler said only that he's grateful for the ethics board's work. Sisler said he did not want to comment on the substance of the issues while they remain in litigation.

"We're going to look at issues when they come, and I hope they come every 20 years," Manahan said.